Halloween Tale - Ten Little Pilgrims

Harpies

Ten little pilgrims! Ten little pilgrims! Climbing up the stair! Down come the Harpies! Down come the Harpies! Catch them unaware!

Bekka's breath came in hard pants as she sprinted back to town. Toben had stopped screaming, which was a bad sign. It meant that the rest of the cacophony would be hunting for fresh meat. The next verse of the childhood rhyme ran through her mind, and she thought she would go insane.

Nine little pilgrims! Nine little pilgrims! See how they run! Down come the Harpies! Down come the Harpies! To snatch another one!

She and her friend had gone to the edge of the steps to smoke stolen tobacco and talk about what they would do when they finally left Pilgrim's Progress. They had done it so many times over the years that they had forgotten the warnings, or just dismissed them. They were teens, practically grown ups, so what did they have to fear?

The cawing got louder, and Bekka tried to run faster. She heard Lissa trip and fall a few paces behind her, but didn't turn back. Instead the words of the song leapt into her head like a maddening mantra.

Eight little pilgrims! Eight little pilgrims! Hiding in the night! Down come the Harpies! Down come the Harpies! Giving them a fright!

As her heart thumped in her chest, the verses kept coming. Seven little pilgrims, praying to survive. Six little pilgrims, sitting in a cave. Five little pilgrims, four, three... Lissa started to weep and howl as the flock of harpies descended on her. Bekka's eyes were blurry with tears, but she didn't stop running. The town gate was not too far now. If she just kept ahead of the beasts she could make it. If she stopped...there would be no little pilgrims coming home that night.